There are two stationary bikes sitting in a dimly lit corner of the Munster wrestling room. One of the bikes has a timer mounted between the handlebars. The other one doesn't anymore.

That's probably because of senior 170-pound wrestler Cody Crary.

"I was on that bike a lot," Crary said. "I couldn't do much wrestling-wise."

Battling a season-long injury to his left knee, Crary spent countless hours on the bike to stay in shape. It worked out in the long run for Crary, though, who will compete in this weekend's state finals at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis for the first time in his career.

Crary advanced to the championship match at 170 during Saturday's East Chicago Semistate and took Hobart senior Zack Fattore — ranked second in the state — to overtime before losing 4-2.

"That gives me the confidence that I'm right there with the other guys," Crary said. "I was really shocked by my conditioning. I actually felt good."

Crary had been to the semistate meet three other times but fell one win short of a state finals berth each season. And when he went down with an injury after the first meet this season, his coach — who's also his father — feared the worst.

"My heart was broken for him," Munster coach Mike Crary said. "We thought, at first, that it was a little more extensive but we got some good news at the doctor. He did a fantastic job with his conditioning. He has a love-hate relationship with that bike. He lived on that thing."

And Crary had to stay on that bike because of what happened when he got on the mats. He wrestled at the Munster Super Duals just before Christmas.

"And that didn't go well," Mike Crary said.

Another setback suffered at practice one week later shifted the focus to being healthy for the postseason run, and Cody didn't compete again until sectionals.

Along with his hours on the stationary bike, Cody Crary said he leaned on the endurance he'd built up in an offseason when he gained about 40 pounds thanks to a heavy lifting program. Crary jumped up four weight classes to 170 after wrestling at 138 last year.

"It was four or five days per week, with two solid hours in the weight room," Crary said. "Any days that I missed were made up. I just stuck to my program and put on more weight than I ever had before."

Crary's record is only 13-3 heading into the state finals, while most wrestlers have been in more than 40 matches by this point. But after a strong semistate showing, Crary believes he can compete with the state's best this weekend.

"The pressure's on for Friday night now," he said. "I need to win that Friday match."